Amanda Stern Promises Happy Endings, Richard Price Promises Full Moon

By Leah Taylor

Jan 8, 2009

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The only major disappointment to report from last night’s inaugural Joe’s Pub sesh of the Happy Ending Music & Reading Series was not seeing Richard Price‘s ass as promised. Curator Amanda Stern requires that every reader who graces the stage also perform one public risk: “You know, singing opera, sharing PIN numbers, that sort of thing,” she explained. Price wanted to get the “dare portion of the evening” out of the way, telling us he planned to moon the whole room, showing us the tattoo on his butt.

But, after reading some unpublished excerpts that didn’t make the final draft of his latest (fantastic and sold out) novel, Lush Life, the Bronx-born author instead launched into an extemporaneous and highly entertaining story of his Jewish gangster father, and how he ended up with his own tattoo — of a crucifix. We couldn’t fault him too terribly; the man is a master of dialogue, and hearing him read his own text in his classically Noo Yoahk accent was nigh hypnotic.

This installment was New York Night, and also featured Nada Surf’s Matthew Caws, who, for some reason, couldn’t come up with a good “New York” song for the audience to sing along to (another rule of the series). So, as we chanted to the Faces’ “Ooh La La” (come on, you know the chorus, too: “I wish that I knew what I know now / When I was younger…”), the Flavorpillian table began looking forward to next month’s Affliction Night, featuring authors Jayne Anne Phillips and Sarah Magnuso and a musical guest still TBA.

Stay tuned for updates and interviews, as Flavorpill is the official media partner for the series. All photos courtesy of Gillian Crosson.